Malden Primary Election Day Preview: Where To Vote, Candidates

MALDEN, MA —Early in-person voting is complete and Election Day is upon us in Malden for this year's state primary.

Voting on Tuesday will wrap up the first election in Massachusetts to feature the state's brand-new, pandemic-tested voting system. The state legislature passed the VOTES Act in June, making mail-in voting a permanent feature of elections in Massachusetts. The law also expanded early voting to all state primaries and general elections going forward.

That means thousands of votes have already been cast before primary day this week.

In the primary election, voters will only see candidates for their party's ballot.

On the Democratic side, that includes a two-way race in the 35th Middlesex House of Representatives district in parts of Malden and Medford, where Democratic voters will choose between incumbent Paul Donato and challenger Nichole Mossalam.

Statewide, there is a race for the Democratic nomination to be Attorney General. Once a three-person primary, that contest is now down to former Boston city councilor Andrea Campbell and labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan.

Quintin Palfrey will appear on the ballot alongside Campbell and Liss-Riordan, though he recently announced his decision to drop out of the race.

There are also contested Democratic races for Auditor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State. Democratic voters will still have two names on the ballot in the governor's race, though State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz dropped out of the race earlier this year, leaving Attorney General Maura Healey running unopposed.

On the Republican ballot, there are contested races for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Geoff Diehl is facing Chris Doughty in the governor's race while Leah Allen faces Kate Campanale in the Lieutenant Governor's race.

Patch has put together a 2022 Massachusetts primary voting guide to get you primed and ready to vote. Here's everything you need to know:

Who's On The Ballot?

DEMOCRATS
Attorney General

• Andrea Campbell
• Shannon Liss-Riordan
• Quentin Palfrey (dropped out, but still on ballot)

Auditor

• Christopher Dempsey
• Diana DiZoglio

Governor

• Sonia Chang-Diaz (dropped out, but still on ballot)
• Maura Healey

Lieutenant Governor

• Kim Driscoll
• Tami Gouveia
• Eric Lesser

Secretary of State

• William Galvin
• Tanisha Sullivan

35th Middlesex District (State Representative)

• Paul Donato
• Nichole Mossalam

REPUBLICANS
Governor

• Geoff Diehl
• Chris Doughty

Lieutenant Governor

• Leah Allen
• Kate Campanale

Where To Vote

Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Search your precinct and voting location here through the Secretary of the State's "My Election Info" tool.

Voting Accessibility

This week's election is Malden's first taking place after the formalization of a recent memorandum of understanding between the city and various groups advocating for the rights of Chinese-speaking voters in Malden with limited English proficiency.

Groups had alleged a series of violations of the Voting Rights Act in Malden as recently as last year.

The city, as a result, has committed to various accessibility measures aimed at ensuring that Chinese-speaking voters with limited English proficiency are able to vote.

Though the city is looking to implement the majority of these measures for this election, a push for transliteration of candidate names on ballots will not take effect for the time being.

Dependent on state legislature approval, a bill to allow transliteration in Malden is currently hung up in the state senate.

READ: Malden Groups Call For Passage Of Chinese Ballot Transliteration Bill

Voting By Mail

Massachusetts briefly joined a handful of other U.S. states in allowing voting by mail during the pandemic. Then the Legislature let the practice expire last year. Then they brought it back in June after passing a big, new voting rights bill.

If you're a registered voter, you should've already received a vote-by-mail application from your local clerk. Unfortunately, the deadline to request a mail-in ballot has passed, but voters will get another mail-in shot before the November election.

The state has changed vote by mail materials slightly since the pandemic, but the process is largely the same: once you get your ballot, you fill it out at home with a pen and then return it in a special security envelope to be counted. Since primary ballots must be received by the close of polls on Tuesday, the best way to return a mail-in ballot at this point is either by putting in your local ballot drop box or hand-delivering it to your city or town clerk. You CANNOT drop it off at a polling place on Tuesday.